Cemetery cleanup brings woman closer to family friend

By Leigh KelleyTimes-News Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, February 6, 2005 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, February 6, 2005 at 12:00 a.m.

Marie Smyth knew the remains of a beloved woman who kept house for her family's ancestors in the 1800s were buried in the Mill Pond Cemetery but rediscovering the exact location during a cleanup effort Saturday was like reconnecting with a long, lost friend.

Thick weeds that had grown up around the headstones following years of neglect made it a challenge to locate some of the cemetery's graves located on the corner of N.C. 191 and South Rugby Road as 60 volunteers joined members of the Walter M. Bryson Camp 70 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for the back-breaking work of clearing brush from around the tombstones.

Descendants of Confederate veterans and descendants of former slaves worked side by side using machetes and weed trimmers to cut down the weeds which were so high in places, the tombstones were completely hidden from view.

The cemetery contains the remains of pre-Civil War free blacks with graves dating as early as 1804. In the late 1800s, it was used as a paupers' cemetery.

Smyth, an 87-year-old Mills River resident, could hardly contain her delight at finding the gravesite of the woman who was like a member of the Layne and Mangnum families for years.

"Her name was Louvenia Mangnum and she was our black mammy who came over from Europe. Ireland, I think," said Smyth, as she lovingly touched the tombstone. "The children called her 'Bean' probably because they couldn't pronounce Louvenia but everybody in my family loved her. She cooked and cleaned and ran the house and bossed everyone around and everyone loved it. She took care of my mother and uncle and everyone just loved her."

The dates on the tombstone read 1858 and 1926, indicating the women's birth and death. Louvenia took the family's name of Mangnum as her own, Smythe said, following the custom during the Civil War era when free blacks adopted the names of the families they worked for since there were no written records tracing accurate family genealogy for many blacks.

The cemetery cleanup is the result of a project the Sons of Confederate Veterans began in September to locate, document and preserve the grave sites of Confederate and Union soldiers. After discovering many cemeteries were gone, usually due to development, the Henderson County Commission formed a Cemetery Advisory Committee to work on cemetery preservation.

Preserving the area's history is important for everyone, said Joe Young, commander of the Camp 70 Sons of the Confederate Veterans.

"Some people are trying to come in here and build over cemeteries like this but if you start building over all these historic sites, it's no longer Historic Hendersonville is it?" he said. "If we can do this voluntarily, I think the county (commission) should step up to the plate and do their part."

Young and Norman Miller, vice chairman of the cemetery committee, said they planned to ask county commissioners to place stones around the grave site headstones along with applying weed killer to keep the historic cemetery in good condition.

<p>Marie Smyth knew the remains of a beloved woman who kept house for her family's ancestors in the 1800s were buried in the Mill Pond Cemetery but rediscovering the exact location during a cleanup effort Saturday was like reconnecting with a long, lost friend.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>Thick weeds that had grown up around the headstones following years of neglect made it a challenge to locate some of the cemetery's graves located on the corner of N.C. 191 and South Rugby Road as 60 volunteers joined members of the Walter M. Bryson Camp 70 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for the back-breaking work of clearing brush from around the tombstones.</p><p>Descendants of Confederate veterans and descendants of former slaves worked side by side using machetes and weed trimmers to cut down the weeds which were so high in places, the tombstones were completely hidden from view.</p><p>The cemetery contains the remains of pre-Civil War free blacks with graves dating as early as 1804. In the late 1800s, it was used as a paupers' cemetery.</p><p>Smyth, an 87-year-old Mills River resident, could hardly contain her delight at finding the gravesite of the woman who was like a member of the Layne and Mangnum families for years.</p><p>&quot;Her name was Louvenia Mangnum and she was our black mammy who came over from Europe. Ireland, I think,&quot; said Smyth, as she lovingly touched the tombstone. &quot;The children called her 'Bean' probably because they couldn't pronounce Louvenia but everybody in my family loved her. She cooked and cleaned and ran the house and bossed everyone around and everyone loved it. She took care of my mother and uncle and everyone just loved her.&quot;</p><p>The dates on the tombstone read 1858 and 1926, indicating the women's birth and death. Louvenia took the family's name of Mangnum as her own, Smythe said, following the custom during the Civil War era when free blacks adopted the names of the families they worked for since there were no written records tracing accurate family genealogy for many blacks.</p><p>The cemetery cleanup is the result of a project the Sons of Confederate Veterans began in September to locate, document and preserve the grave sites of Confederate and Union soldiers. After discovering many cemeteries were gone, usually due to development, the Henderson County Commission formed a Cemetery Advisory Committee to work on cemetery preservation.</p><p>Preserving the area's history is important for everyone, said Joe Young, commander of the Camp 70 Sons of the Confederate Veterans.</p><p>&quot;Some people are trying to come in here and build over cemeteries like this but if you start building over all these historic sites, it's no longer Historic Hendersonville is it?&quot; he said. &quot;If we can do this voluntarily, I think the county (commission) should step up to the plate and do their part.&quot;</p><p>Young and Norman Miller, vice chairman of the cemetery committee, said they planned to ask county commissioners to place stones around the grave site headstones along with applying weed killer to keep the historic cemetery in good condition.</p>